Your grip strength is a combination of the power in your fingers, wrist flexors and forearms. Building your grip strength requires working those muscles together in some dynamic moves as well as some static holds. The strength of your grip can affect how effectively you work out with weights; if your hands get tired before your upper arms, you must pause the workout to rest your hands before lifting more weight.

Home Equipment Workouts

Increasing your grip strength doesn't require expensive equipment. Use a stress ball at home to get you started with your grip workouts. Squeeze it in one hand 12 times, holding the squeeze for three seconds each time. Do two sets, then repeat with the other hand. Advance to a tennis ball, which provides more resistance. Also, roll a towel into a line and grip it near the center with both hands. Twist the towel between your hands, turning one forward and one backward as if you were wringing water out of the towel; you can use a wet towel if it helps you to actually wring the water out. Continue twisting the towel for one minute, increasing gradually to two minutes.

Dumbbell Workouts

Focusing the curl movement on your wrist helps build your wrist flexors and forearm muscles. Sit down and rest the back of your forearm on your thigh, holding a dumbbell in your hand. Start light, such as 2 or 5 pounds, and work up to heavier weights. Lift and lower your wrist in a full range of motion for two sets of 10 repetitions. Turn your arm over so that your palm is facing down and perform two more sets of 10. A farmer's walk is a simple exercise you can perform almost anywhere. Pick up two medium-weight dumbbells, such as 10 to 15 pounds, with one in each hand. Walk several steps forward, backward and side to side, then walk in a circle. Repeat the sequence for one minute as a beginner and work up to five or more minutes. This exercise is ideal for the end of your workout because it doesn't require your biceps, triceps or shoulders to work.

Weight Plate Workouts

The twisting motion of wrist rollers engages your fingers as well as your wrists and forearms. A wrist roller is a short bar attached to a weight plate by a rope. Wrap the rope around the bar until the plate sits about 6 inches above the floor when your hands are holding the bar at chest height. Turn the handle with your hands, almost like you're wringing out a towel, to wind the rope around the handle and raise the plate. Lower it the same way. Start with a 10-pound weight and lift and lower 10 times. Holding weight plates with a pinch grip helps improve your grip strength as well. Pinch a light weight, such as 5 pounds, with your thumb on one side and your fingers on the other. Hold it steady for as long as you can; shoot for one minute at the beginning and work up to five minutes. Increase the weight as soon as you can hold the first weight plate for five minutes, starting with one minute on the new weight level.

Pullup Bar Workouts

Hanging from a pullup bar works your hands and forearms even if you're not pulling yourself up. Hang with your arms extended for two minutes; work up to two minutes if you can't reach that goal as a beginner. Release your pinky and ring fingers once you can hold for two minutes to make gripping the bar more difficult. To increase the intensity further, let go with one hand and hang from one arm only in a monkey hang. Using a thick bar, or one with a large diameter, can make it harder to grip, helping improve your grip strength. Place two towels over the bar so the center is on the bar and the two ends hang down equally. Grab the two ends of one towel in your left and the two ends of the other towel in your right. Use the towels to perform pullups instead of holding the bar.